A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
by Desktop Dragon
Summary: ONE-SHOT SINGLE CHAPTER SEASONAL STORY Christian Grey is visited by a spectre on Christmas Eve warning him that he needs to change his ways. The ghostly apparition who he remembers well from his wretched childhood helps him see the truth of that time and also helps him to change his outlook on life with the help of three other ghosts. I DO NOT OWN FSOG OR ITS CHARACTERS.


**AUTHORS NOTE: This little one-shot came to me practically fully formed in my head back in about September so I ran with and got it down. I have been waiting ever since for the appropriate time to post it, and although it is still quite early, we are in December so that is slightly more appropriate than back in September when I wrote it! It is semi-inspired by the seasonal story **_**A Christmas Carol**_** by Charles Dickens – which is kind of a tradition for me to re-read at Christmas. It is a very different story and in some ways, it was really hard to write as I was writing it in the third person narrative, which isn't my preference as I normally write in the first-person narrative. **

**This story is my early Christmas gift to all those who helped me with messages of encouragement and support earlier this year, after the issues I had with trolls. It was your support which persuaded me to come back fighting and to repost all my stories and gave me the inspiration to write some new ones. It was your words of encouragement which inspired me to write '**_**Having the Last Word'**_**. I would like to give a particular shout out to '**_**T Traveller**_**' and '**_**meeeeouch**_**' whose kindness was much appreciated during that time. **

**Finally, I would like to wish all the people who have read, commented and favoured my stories and who have followed and favoured me for years… A Very Merry Christmas!**

**Enjoy!**

A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

Ella was dead to begin with, that was fact and cannot be disputed. She had been dead for many years and had long since decayed in her cold Detroit grave. You need to know this fundamental fact, or nothing which follows will make any sense or seem wondrous in any way.

We start our story at Grey House. The imposing tower in the centre of Seattle, which dominates the skyline and which was commissioned by and is owned by one Christian Grey. The self-made ruthless multi billionaire businessman. The man who it is rumoured has no heart and whose soul is as black as night. It is late evening on Christmas Eve and he is where he always is. He is sitting at his desk in his office, and he is working. All of his staff have long gone home to their families eager to begin the Christmas festivities, and he is as he always is… alone.

Eventually he stands, stretches and looks at his watch. It is nearly midnight, and he picks up his phone.

"I'm going to call it a night" he says briskly.

"Yes sir, I'll be waiting downstairs for you" the voice replies.

He shuts down his computer and shrugs on his jacket before turning off the light and entering the elevator.

As the doors open, he sees his long suffering and ever patient CPO, Jason Taylor waiting.

Not a word is spoken between them as they leave the building. Grey pauses to nod at the security guard stationed at the reception desk. The man looks relieved, as now the boss has gone and the building is completely empty, he can close everything down and he can finally go home to his own family and celebrate Christmas.

He doesn't really mind the delay as Grey pays well, very well. Far better than many of the other companies he has worked for in the past. Also, the perks for working for GEH are many and very generous. He just wonders why such a young man is so focussed on business and doesn't appear to have anything else in his life, other than his vast wealth. The security guard pities him in a way, he may have everything materially but he considers himself with his wife, children and grandchildren a much richer man.

Back in the black Audi, Grey sits in silence looking at his phone as Taylor drives them through the now deserted Seattle streets. Going through his emails and texts he quickly dismisses the text from his latest sub with a roll of his eyes. He starts to think that Susannah has to go as she is getting far too forward and familiar with him.

It is an all too recognisable pattern for him, as most of these women can see what a good man lies beneath the surface of the cold and aloof businessman, and they want to be the one to make him see there is more to life than work. No-one knows what causes the man to be so cut off, there is a sadness which radiates from him and despite his aloofness and coldness there is a kind of vulnerability about him which makes him very easy to fall in love with. Of course though, not all are this altruistic. For some it is far simpler than that, they are simply blinded by his wealth. The shallowness of the trappings of his almost obscene wealth makes him irresistible and in their greed for more, it makes them want _even _more than what he already willingly and generously offers them. Whatever their motives, as soon as that line is crossed it is the quickest way to ensure Grey cuts them off with immediate effect and that inherent sadness and vulnerability remains unconquered. Everyone around him who truly cares about him sees it, but no-one can reach him to end it.

He arrives at Escala; his fortress in the sky, his home. Taylor follows silently and once they are inside the elevator Grey turns towards the man standing stoically at his side.

"I'm sorry I kept you hanging around so long, please give Gail my apologies" he says.

"No problem Sir, she understands" Taylor replies politely.

Grey smiles and as the elevator doors open into the luxurious yet soulless penthouse he turns once again to Taylor. "Goodnight and… Merry Christmas" he says awkwardly as he realises it is now actually Christmas Day.

He makes his way over to the kitchen island and he sees the meal made for him and awaiting to be reheated. He picks it up and pushes it into the microwave and while it heats, he opens the fridge door and he pulls out a bottle of white wine and pours himself a generous glass full.

After he has eaten, he loosens his tie and toes off his shoes before sitting down on the plush sofa and throwing back the rest of his wine. He leans his head back and closes his eyes briefly. Realising he doesn't want to fall asleep here he heaves himself to his feet and makes his way to his bedroom. As he reaches for the handle it alters and looks like a face. He stumbles backwards in surprise and looks at the door once more. But, nothing… it is only the ornate handle. He reaches out and gingerly touches it. Shaking his head and dismissing his overactive imagination on tiredness. He walks into his bedroom and closes the door.

That strange encounter has troubled him more than he wishes to acknowledge; and as much as he tries to dismiss it as him seeing things and being over tired, he can't get the memory of it from his mind. It was that face which materialised in front of him… it was a face who visits him nightly in his dreams, or rather his nightmares. It is a face who belongs to the woman who he has long since dismissed with a lingering anger and bitterness, as a crack whore. She was a bad mother, someone who allowed him to be abused by her pimp and who sold herself for drugs. He swallows hard and sits down on the bed and switches on the bedside lamp. Scrubbing his hands over his face he starts to undress and get ready for bed. He stares distastefully at his huge bed; this place offers him no rest or comfort. It is the place of nightmares and ghosts from his past, and after a moment ago that time in his life is now once again at the forefront of his mind.

He quickly tries to dismiss it, and after having a wash and cleaning his teeth he climbs into bed. He sets his cell phone at the side of him and his watch beside it. As he lies there staring up at the ceiling the bedside light flickers and he turns his head to look at it. He dismisses the flickering as simply the bulb on its way out, and he makes a mental note to mention it to Gail, but then his phone starts buzzing. He picks it up but then nearly drops it as a face appears on the screen. That face… the crack whore.

"What the fuck?!" he calls out angrily.

He climbs out of bed and goes to open the bedroom door and shout for Taylor to check who sent it. But the door won't open, no matter how hard he pulls it just won't open. Panic starts to overwhelm him, he is locked in, but how? There is no lock on his door he made sure of that as he doesn't like to be locked in rooms… and he starts to recall the last time he was locked in a room unable to get out, he stares around the room wildly when he feels a cold sensation almost like a hand on his arm and he jumps back in shock.

"Who is there… who the fuck is there?" he demands looking around wildly.

"Hey calm down… it's ok maggot". He freezes at the voice and the nickname he hasn't heard since he was four years old.

"Show yourself" he calls, and immediately out of the shadows a figure slowly approaches him, almost gliding across the floor. His eyes widen and his jaw drops as he takes in the shadowy shimmering figure in front of him. Grey doesn't believe in ghosts and yet the evidence of the paranormal is here standing in front of him. He knows beyond doubt that this person is dead, he was trapped in a slum apartment with her dead body for four long days, an experience which has stayed with him ever since. She doesn't look like he remembers her in his hazy recollections and nightmares; she looks healthy and well fed now.

"What the fuck is this?" he demands as he tries to reiterate to himself that there is no such thing as ghosts.

The figure moves closer and looks at him with love and compassion, he shakes his head and takes a step back and finds himself backed up against his bedroom door with nowhere to go.

The figure smiles kindly at him and holds up its hands in a sign of surrender.

"Listen to me maggot; you are not seeing things this is real, it is really happening and is not just your overactive imagination. I'm really here and I'm who you believe I am. I'm here to tell you that you are going to be visited this night by three ghosts, because I am worried about you. I have been watching you all these years; and while I am so proud of you and what you have achieved, I am worried about how you will eventually end up. You need to change. You need to give up this lifestyle and you need to let people in. You _are_ loved Christian, and you need to accept that love because you are worth loving. You need to stop isolating yourself, your money may bring you power and control but it doesn't bring you comfort and love".

Grey shakes his head and snorts, "Love is for fools" he retorts repeating the words of his closest confidant, the woman who has guided him since his teenage years.

The spirit shakes her head sadly. "Oh, you are so wrong maggot; and I am so sorry that you fell into that evil woman's hands, because of what I allowed to happen" she says.

He opens his mouth to argue with her. To tell her that Elena is not evil, that she made him the success he is today and without her he would be nothing; but no words come out and he stares at the figure as it drifts closer and reaches for him.

"I'm so sorry baby boy, I'm so sorry. I tried, I really tried my best… but it became just too hard and I just… I'm sorry, I'm sorry you had to live through that and I'm sorry its legacy left you with so many issues that it led on to what that bitch did to you when you were a teenager. But you have a chance baby boy, a chance to change all that. But you just need to let people in, let the _right_ people love you. I am here because you have an important crossroads coming up in your life soon, one which will alter the course of your life completely and set you on the track which will be your destiny. You need to take the right road and so I am here tonight to help guide you down the correct path when that time comes and help you make the right choices".

"What do you mean?" he asks warily.

The figure smiles sadly, "You are destined to meet someone, destined to be happy and have a fulfilling life which at the moment you believe you are not worthy of. You are destined to fall in love and have a family of your own and become so much more than what you currently believe you are worthy of. However, to do that you need to see you can accept love and accept that you can be happy. You need to be able to see that you are worth loving because if you don't then you won't accept this person into your life and your destiny is far bleaker. I don't want you to end up alone with only your money for company. So that is where I come in, and where my friends come in. Tonight, we help you see the truth and help you to come to the correct decision so you can make the right choices when the time comes and this person comes into your life".

Grey swallows hard, wondering if he is having some kind of breakdown. But before he can say anything else, the figure speaks again.

"Expect the first spirit when the clock strikes one, and always know that despite everything you remember that I loved you. You may not believe that at this moment and I don't blame you for that as your memories and nightmares tell you nothing but the pain which you experienced, and I take full responsibility for that because I took the wrong path, but things can work out differently for you".

Before he can say anything more the figure slowly vanishes and Grey is once again alone in his bedroom. He looks at the clock it is nearly 12:45 now, then he shakes his head and snorts loudly, dismissing this as rubbish, some kind of hallucination brought on by exhaustion.

He tries to push it from his mind as he climbs into bed and closes his eyes.

He is just drifting off to sleep when a bright light engulfs him and the room; he opens his eyes and squints at the brightness. Standing at the foot of the bed is a small child. A small copper haired boy who smiles up at him.

"Christian Grey, I am the ghost of Christmas past. Please come with me" he says as he holds out his small hand.

Grey rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"What is this shit?" he demands.

The boy smiles at him, "I am here to show you the truth of Christmases long gone. Christmases where if things had turned out differently you would not need our help today".

"I don't need anyone's help" Grey retorts coldly.

"Oh, but you do" the child replies and he takes a step closer, "Now please take my hand".

Grey climbs out of bed with a loud sigh, as he does so the child reaches for him and as soon as he touches the hand of the child his surrounding shimmer and fade. When they materialise, he realises that he is standing in a grand sitting room. A room which is tastefully yet elaborately decorated for Christmas. In front of him are a distinguished looking couple, a good-looking man with dark hair peppered with grey and a very beautiful woman with long blonde hair. The woman is crying bitterly but the man looks furious and is ignoring the woman's obvious distress.

"Daniel please, please don't do this" the woman pleads but the man is not listening. Grey's attention moves to a young girl, she looks so young she must only be about 16/17ish and she is also crying bitterly. Then there is a boy who looks to be about the same age or maybe a bit older and he has his arm wrapped around her and he is trying to offer her comfort.

"Come on dad, don't do this" the boy says.

The man glares at his family and points his finger at the girl. "She is three months pregnant, and she is 17 years old, the boy she claims that she opened her legs for denies paternity, so that says to me it could be anyone. So, having said that, explain to me exactly how I should behave when confronted with the fact my daughter is a slut?" the man spits coldly.

"Yes, I get that, but for your information he is lying. Longthorpe _is_ the father – he admitted it to me when I beat the crap out of him. But calling her a slut, and telling her she has no option but to abort is wrong. You can't force her to do that" the boy argues.

"Yes, I can, and she is a slut because she allowed a boy to touch her!" the man shouts.

The boy shakes his head, "Stop calling her a slut! She made a mistake. Have you never made a mistake in your life dad?" the boy shouts angrily.

He takes a deep breath and tries to calm down before he continues. "No, you can't force her to have an abortion. It is Ella's body and it is your grandchild which you want her to murder" he argues.

Grey takes a step back and a sharp breath in as he realises in a rush that this is his mother, and it appears to be the time she is telling her family that she was pregnant with him. Everything he ever assumed about his birth mother appears to be wrong. He assumed his father was one of her many clients. A man who paid a whore for his jollies, but this… this changes everything he ever thought. He stares at the boy beside her and looks hard at him, as he appears to care about her. Grey takes a step forward and points.

"Is that…?" he begins and points at the girl who is crying bitterly.

The spirit moves closer and looks at him with unconcealed compassion, "That is Ella, your birth mother and this is Christmas day. Her family have just discovered she is pregnant, your birth father's family called Ella's father to complain about their son being named as the baby's father and so Ella had no choice but to tell them everything. The boy beside her is her older brother Christian".

Grey takes in another sharp breath… he was named after his uncle. He watches the interaction as it unfolds.

Then he hears crying and looks towards the woman, this must be his maternal grandmother. He watches as she pleads with the man.

"Please don't do this Daniel" she says.

The man shakes his head, "No, she has made her bed and now she must lie in it, if she won't rectify this mistake and eradicate it then she can no longer live under my roof" he states.

Grey scowls at him, he immediately dislikes this man. He is so cold and heartless; he is not considering his family for a moment. Then it hits him, that he reminds him of himself.

He watches as Ella turns towards her mother, "I'm sorry mom, but I am not killing my baby" she says firmly and Grey smiles sadly.

"That decision was probably the wrong one knowing how things turned out" he says sadly.

"Just watch," the child beside Grey says.

As he watches the surroundings shimmer once more and he is standing in a small humble apartment, it is clean and tidy but looks shabby. He looks around and sees Ella staring into a crib at a small baby. She looks down at the child with such love, there are a few toys and baby things lying around and she is singing to the baby softly.

Grey sucks in a sharp breath and closes his eyes; as distant vague memories from his long buried past surge through his mind, at the sound of that distinctly familiar voice and that lullaby.

"Merry Christmas my sweet little baby boy" she says quietly as her song comes to an end.

Grey moves closer and looks in the crib to see a sleeping infant about six months old with a shock of copper hair, and he realises that this child must be him.

"Is this me?" he asks and the spirit simply nods.

Grey looks at the child and then at Ella. They are both clean and well fed, there is nothing here to suggest the abject hell he ended up in and this apartment is not familiar as the one from his nightmares. Suddenly there is a knock at the door and Ella runs to it and opens it.

"Christian, mom!" she cries and flings her arms around her mother and brother.

Grey watches and sees the two enter the apartment and set down some gifts and he realises that they are helping her; they are standing by her… but what about his grandfather?

He looks and waits for some kind of explanation to this situation.

"Merry Christmas darling, how's baby Christian?" her mother says affectionately as she holds her daughter tightly.

"He's fine, he's sleeping at the moment. He has no idea it is Christmas day; I think I am more excited about it than he is" Ella says with a giggle.

"Well we brought some gifts for you too, as well as him" her brother says with a grin.

Grey watches as Ella hugs her brother tightly and thanks him. As she pulls away her smile fades as she looks from her brother to her mother and back again.

"How's dad?" she asks quietly.

Ella's mother smiles sadly, "the same" she says simply.

"So, he still doesn't want to meet Christian?" Ella asks and her mother shakes her head, at this Ella starts to cry.

"He's six months old now and yet he has never met his father or his grandfather" Ella says bitterly.

"Hey come on maggot, stop crying and forget about dad and his stubborn ass stupidity, it's his loss and as for that other asshole you and the little guy are better off without him… now where is my nephew?" the boy says as he wraps his arms around her.

Ella's face breaks into a weak yet genuine smile and she leads her family over to the crib and the sleeping infant.

"Thank you for coming and spending Christmas day with me" she says gratefully.

"So, they were helping her… supporting her?" Grey says as he takes in the happy family scene in front of him.

The spirit beside him nods.

"What happened? What happened to make it all end so badly?" Grey asks.

The spirit takes Grey's hand and the room shimmers and vanishes once more. As the surroundings come back into focus Grey looks around and he realises that he is standing in a wintery graveyard, the wind is howling and there are flurries of snow falling. Ella is crying bitterly as she lays some flowers on a grave. There is a little boy in a stroller at the side of the grave, he is wrapped up warmly and shielded from the worst of the weather. He looks about 18 months old. Grey steps forward and looks at the gravestone quickly reading it and he calculates that this is a year later.

"Merry Christmas mom… Merry Christmas Christian" Ella says sadly as she lovingly wipes the headstone clean.

It appears Ella's mother and brother have both died. He closes his eyes, as it all becomes clear. Then his eyes shoot open as he hears an angry drunken voice. He looks to see his maternal grandfather lurching towards her. He is clearly very drunk, and Grey is shocked at the sight of him as he has aged considerably in what would be just two years.

"Get the fuck away from them, it's your fault they are dead. If they hadn't been coming to see you and that, they would never have been at that intersection and they would still be alive now. Get away from here you fucking whore and take your bastard with you".

As Ella tries to scramble to her feet the man reaches down and grabs her and flings her across the ground. A protective anger builds in Grey for his mother and he balls his fists and steps forward but the spirit holds him back.

"You can't do anything, what you see here is merely echoes of the past. This has already happened and they can't see or hear you".

"She's his fucking daughter, he can't treat her like that" Grey protests as he waves his hand at his sobbing birth mother.

The spirit smiles sadly, "Daniel never forgave Ella and blamed her till his dying day for his loss, he died five months later after this particular Christmas day… he drank himself to death" the spirit says.

Grey looks at the spirit, "So this was the beginning of her demise?" he asks his voice breaking with emotion.

The spirit nods, "Daniel discovered the financial assistance that his wife had set up for Ella and upon her death he stopped it. I have one more Christmas to show you, just a year later".

Grey closes his eyes, as the way that was said he didn't want to see it. He knew it wouldn't be good from this point onwards.

When he opens his eyes once more, he sees the apartment he remembers from his nightmares, the apartment he recalled sharing with his mother. He looks around as a feeling of nausea engulfs him as he recognises it. But as he looks around, he frowns as he sees it is empty and looks unlived in. Then the door opens, and he stiffens as he sees his mother holding him tightly in her arms. He takes in Ella and himself, both dirty and dishevelled but what took his attention was the fact she was being led in by… him… the pimp. Memories of the beatings and the cigarettes fill his mind and he unconsciously rubs at his chest as his heartbeat and rising panic increases.

"Here you go sweet cheeks; you can stay here as long as you need to. We can't have the little guy out on the streets on Christmas day, can we?" the man says and Grey cringes as he hears that voice from his nightmares once again. Goose bumps cover his arms as he listens and he starts to breathe heavily as the fear increases.

"So, I can really stay here?" Ella asks warily.

"Sure you can, don't worry I'll take care of you and the little guy" the man says and Grey realises immediately what he is doing. He wants to yell at her to get away from this man... this predator. He is gaining her trust, grooming her for what is to come. He quickly realises that this must have been when they first met.

Ella looks up at him gratefully, "Thank you for doing this and as soon as I am on my feet again, I will pay you back somehow. I couldn't stay in that homeless shelter any longer, Christian needs a proper home" she says adamantly.

The man strokes her cheek, "I know you will" he says. He is ignoring everything else she said and knowing what happened to his mother, Grey shudders at the hidden message behind that simple comment.

"So, he promised he would take care of her. He groomed her and he gained her trust and then he got her hooked on drugs to keep her dependent on him and he used her by whoring her out to men, but at first she thought he was helping her" Grey says bitterly.

The spirit nods, "that is exactly what happened" he says.

Grey now looks at his mother with new eyes; this animal used her love for him against her. As this realisation hits him, the feelings of bitterness and anger he had always felt towards her have now vanished in a rush. Now he knows the full story. The only anger he feels now is directed towards his birth father for denying him, his grandfather for not supporting and helping his own child and for this monster who preyed on her when she was vulnerable.

The spirit takes his hand and the next thing he realises he is back at Escala in his bedroom.

He sits down heavily on his bed and looks at the clock, much to his surprise it is only a couple of minutes past one.

"The next spirit will visit you when the clock strikes two" the boy says and Grey nods as he climbs into bed to await the arrival of the next spectre.

Grey must drift off to sleep as he is awakened by music playing, he opens his eyes and listens it is coming from the great room and slowly he makes his way out to investigate. As he enters the great room, he stops dead and his eyes widen at the sight in front of him. The room is unrecognisable, the lights are on and it is decorated with Christmas trimmings and an array of luxurious food is laid out on the table. He looks towards his piano to see a large man sitting playing it. He is playing jolly Christmas tunes and he turns towards Grey and beams at him.

"Are you the spirit who I was told would visit me?" Grey asks warily.

The spirit nods and he stands up, he is a giant of a man and he walks over to Grey and waves his hand around the room.

"I hope you don't mind it was a little bleak and dreary in here considering it is Christmas" he says and he beams at Grey as he says the word Christmas.

Grey smiles politely but doesn't say a word.

"I am the ghost of Christmas present. The here and now is my domain, and I am here to show you what you're missing by keeping those who genuinely care about you at a distance" he says.

Grey rolls his eyes; his mind is still preoccupied with the information filling it about his birth mother. He wonders if Grace and Carrick have any information on her and if he could find out anything more about her. He realises he is supposed to go to his parents for Christmas lunch today. He had been vague when they had asked if he was going and he recalls his mother's sad but also oddly stoic voice.

'_I realise you are a busy man Christian but try and come if you can. We would all love to see you'._

Grey decides there and then that he is going to spend Christmas with his adopted family even though he doesn't deserve them.

He looks up at the spirit standing watching him, "so what are you going to show me?" Grey asks and the spirit just smiles. He waves his hand and in the blink of an eye his surroundings alter. He looks around and realises that he is upstairs in Taylor's quarters.

He watches as he and Gail are sitting eating a Christmas dinner and they toast each other. He looks around and sees a small tastefully decorated room and a number of unwrapped presents. It all looks very homely and… nice. He thinks about his own space how he never puts up decorations or even acknowledges Christmas. Yes, he buys his family gifts… well Andrea does that for him but he doesn't get involved in the whole Christmas concept.

"What time does Grey want you to fetch him from his parents?" Gail asks.

Taylor shakes his head, "I have no idea, he said he will text me when he is ready to leave, and normally he doesn't spend any longer than necessary there. He got me to drop him off just before lunch. He will eat lunch with them and then make his excuses and leave".

"But you have your Skype call with Sophie after lunch, how can you do that knowing he could interrupt at any point and you will have to cut it short to go and fetch him?" Gail says.

Taylor shakes his head, "I do it because he pays my wages, he gives me a home and he pays for Sophie's schooling. Yes, he can be an asshole but I really think that is all a front and deep down underneath he is a good man. I am sure of it or I wouldn't continue to work for him or put up with his shit" Taylor says.

Grey stares at the man who is his right-hand man and, in that moment, he realises just how much he puts on him. He turns his attention to Gail who looks sad.

She sighs and nods her head in agreement, "I know, but he is so closed off. I'd love to know what made him that way, I wonder if he'll ever meet anyone and fall in love?" she says.

Taylor snorts, "Not with the lifestyle he leads, those whores only want him for what he gives them. The car, the money, the clothes… you can't blame them. His reputation as a generous Dom is legendary and they know they are onto a good thing if he chooses them, but love isn't a requirement and as soon as any of them do start to look deeper and show it they are out the door".

Gail's shakes her head, "It's so sad, if only he could find someone who loves him for him. He has no real friends apart from that awful woman, I don't like her Jason. She has far too much influence over him and he keeps everyone at a distance, I wish he would just let people in… I don't mean just any Tom, Dick or Harry but his family at least. He needs a nice young girl who will love him not for what she can get him to buy for her but for him personally, because he has so much to offer… and I don't mean materially".

Taylor shakes his head, "I agree with you, but that will never happen until he learns to love himself. Or at least until he can learn to like himself and allow people to love him" he says.

They continue to eat in silence, "What do you think made him the way he is?" Gail asks suddenly.

Grey watches Taylor shrug, "I have no idea but we have both witnessed his night terrors, that has something to do with it I am sure, and I am also certain that woman has something to do with it as well. As you say she has far too much influence over him. We can speculate all day from now till the end of time but we will never know for sure as he will never let anyone in far enough to find out, so all we can do is be there for him as much as he will let us".

Grey swallows hard as he listens and watches the two people in front of him, his two loyal employees who jump at every demand he makes and who clearly have feelings of affection towards him. He quickly dismisses that but then hesitates questioning why they would be spending time discussing him and his welfare on Christmas day if they didn't care. He watches and sees Taylor's laptop pinging and a huge genuine smile fills his face as he fetches it and answers the Skype call.

"Hey sweetheart, Merry Christmas" he says and Grey hears the love in his voice for his daughter. It is the same love he had heard in Ella's voice when she had wished him a merry Christmas when he was a tiny baby, then with a jolt he realises it is the same tone he hears constantly from his adopted mother Grace when she speaks with him, and he swallows hard.

"Hi daddy, is Gail there?" the disembodied voice of Sophie says.

Taylor turns his laptop and Gail waves, "hello Sophie, Merry Christmas darling" she calls.

Grey watches and listens to the private greetings and conversation between Taylor and his daughter. He can hear the love shared between father and daughter and he begins to feel uncomfortable, like he is intruding and eavesdropping on something personal. Then he hears Sophie's voice again.

"Is Mr Grey there?" she asks warily and yet at the same time hopefully.

Grey watches Taylor shake his head, "No darling, he is spending Christmas day with his family, but I bet he will be calling me soon to go and fetch him home" he says with a smile.

Grey cringes as he realises that he is warning her that this special moment between them may be cut short. He waits for a bitter response from Sophie; demanding that Taylor doesn't respond and stays talking to her, but it doesn't happen and what she does say next almost floors him.

"Well… when you do, fetch him I mean… tell him I said hi and wish him a merry Christmas from me" she says sincerely.

Grey inhales sharply at hearing this. Every Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and every other holiday when Taylor speaks to Sophie. At some point, he always tells him that Sophie says hi and that she sends him the appropriate holiday greetings. He had never believed that. He had dismissed those words with cynicism. He always assumed that Taylor was just being polite after he had enquired about her wellbeing, but after hearing this it dawned on him that, that little girl really does and always has wished him sincere greetings of whatever holiday season it is.

"I will," Taylor promises.

"They actually do care" he mutters incredulously.

The spirit beside him doesn't say a word but he smiles and waves his hand again and the next thing he realises the room is fading and transforming around him into another familiar dwelling, his parents' house. He looks around and sees Grace and Carrick sitting quietly in their sitting room.

"What time are the children coming Grace?" his father asks suddenly.

Grace looks up and smiles as she thinks about her children and Grey sees the natural maternal love in her eyes, and it brings a lump to his throat. He doesn't associate himself with that question, as he immediately thinks about his siblings. They deserve that love and affection; which Grace so freely gives.

"Mia is still asleep at the moment, I'm sure she will make an appearance soon but it is still early…" Grace pauses as she confirms that fact with a glance at her watch, "and Elliot said he would be arriving about 10ish" she adds.

Grey watches his father's eyebrows rise and what Grey could only describe as a look of exasperated amusement fills his face at the mention of his eldest son.

"Is he bringing anyone with him?" Carrick asks sardonically.

Grey snorts upon hearing that, the subtext in that question was clear and his father was wondering if his brother would likely be inviting the latest flavour of the week to his parents for Christmas day. Then he sees the look in Grace's eyes, almost a fleeting look of hurt, she had caught the hidden message and what thoughts it conveyed about her husband's opinion of their son. She was hurt that her husband should say such a thing.

"I don't think so, not this year" she says quietly.

Carrick hears the tone and looks up apologetically. He hesitates a moment as if he is questioning whether or not he is going to add to the hurt he has just inflicted.

"What about Christian?" he asks warily, and Grey stiffens at the tone of voice.

He looks at his mother and he is shocked to see tears forming in her eyes.

She shakes her head sadly, "I have no idea, I tried to pin him down to a definite answer but he was as evasive as he normally is. I just think he will show up shortly before lunchtime go through the motions and then leave shortly after as he always does," she says sadly.

"Just doing as little as possible for appearances" Carrick says bitterly.

Grey is shocked to see anger now filling his mother's face as Grace glares at him, "No, he is a busy man. You know that he tries hard to make time but he is busy" she argues.

"You make too many excuses for that boy; you know that he doesn't want to be here" Carrick replies bitterly.

Grace glares at him and shakes her head, "and can you blame him? You never give him the credit he deserves; you have never once told him how proud you are of him for everything he has achieved. You have never once acknowledged or admitted that you were wrong about him leaving Harvard. It's no wonder he doesn't want to be here. Why do you think he works the way he does? He is always trying to prove to you that he did make the right decision. He is always trying to gain your approval and yet you will never swallow your pride, admit that you were wrong and give it to him" she says fiercely.

Grey takes a step back and sucks in a sharp breath… is that what he is doing? It is true when Carrick tore him off a strip for quitting Harvard and predicted that his company would fail within the year, it made him determined to prove him wrong. He was hurt when he proved him wrong and no acknowledgement was made to that fact. But what has shocked him even more is Grace's reaction, the way she defended him. He never expected that and he watches the scene in front of him and holds his breath waiting for his father's response; Carrick looks sad and shakes his head.

"Of course, I am proud of him. Who wouldn't be? What he has achieved is truly phenomenal. Yes, I admit that he proved me wrong… and yes, I know I have been hard on him but I only did it because I love him and I _wanted_ him to succeed. Was I disappointed that he dropped out of Harvard? Yes of course I was, but I know that if anyone could succeed without a college education he could and so I wanted to light the fire within him to go out there and prove me wrong. It's a cruel hard world out there and I wanted him to know how hard it would be for him. I am so proud of him and the fact he proved me wrong, but in doing what I did I also acknowledge that I alienated him completely…" he trails off and shakes his head, quickly blinking away the tears which are forming.

Grey takes a sharp breath in upon hearing this and staggers backwards as if the words have physically attacked him. He had no idea his father felt this way.

Grace reaches over the table, "then you need to tell him that, you need to tell him how proud you are of him and you need to let him know that you love him, because I honestly think that he doesn't believe that you do" she says.

Carrick snorts, "What good will it do? He doesn't want to hear it, not now it's too late… I know I blew it with that boy and it kills me that we are so distant. I have always been on the backfoot with him, right from the start I didn't stand a chance due to the fact I was a male and he was so obviously afraid of men when he first came to us. I always felt as though I had my hands tied with him" he says.

"What do you mean?" Grace asks carefully.

Carrick sighs deeply and rubs his forehead, "I've seen the way you hug him Grace. Yes, it is awkward and you barely touch him due to his issues with touch but it is far more than he allows me to do. He won't let me near him and never has. I consider myself lucky when he shakes my hand and I live for those moments of brief contact with him. I long for the day I can hold him in my arms like I do with Mia and Elliot, but I'm realistic enough to know that will never happen… it's all too late" he says sadly.

Grey shakes his head, "No dad, it's not too late" he whispers.

To his horror he sees his mother crying and she dabs the tears away. She stands suddenly and fetches a book and places it in front of Carrick and opens it. Grey walks closer to look, and he sees it is a scrapbook of newspaper articles detailing all his achievements. Is this what they do to feel close to him? Do they look at media clippings to just feel a connection to him? He scans the headlines as Grace turns the pages, 'Harvard drop out makes first million,' 'Youngest billionaire in US history'. Then there are smaller articles like the one detailing the opening of Grey House, there are many detailing his charity work, and as he sees them he frowns as he had always insisted on no publicity for those, but somehow they had got into the press. Some have photographs some don't but as Grace pauses on one article headlined 'Youngest Multi Billionaire Ever in Forbes List Top Ten'. Grace points at the pictures of the top ten riches people in the world.

"What do you see Cary?" she asks as she points at the pictures.

Carrick scans the pictures and shrugs, "What am I looking for Grace?" he asks.

Grace points sadly, "he may be in the top ten riches people in the world but he certainly isn't in the top ten happiest, just look at him Cary. Look at this picture in fact look at any picture of him he never smiles, he never looks happy, and that is all I ever wanted for him from the moment we adopted him. I wanted him to feel safe, loved and happy" she says and another strangled sob escapes her.

Carrick stands and wraps his arms around his wife, "Hey come on Grace. He is a grown man now. We did our best for him and he knows we will always be there for him should he need us… but he just doesn't need us" he says.

Grace pulls away, "does he though? Does he even know that we are there for him and that we love him, because I do sometimes wonder?" she argues.

"Of course he does" Carrick states firmly.

Grey listens to the exchange and he is filled with the overwhelming urge to reach out and take his mother in his arms. The emotions he is feeling at this moment almost overwhelm him. The pain and genuine regret at the fact he has caused her so much worry and the fact she clearly still loves him despite the fact he has kept her at arm's length all these years. The shame and guilt consume him and he looks at the spirit standing next to him.

"Let's look at how events unfold a little later today" he says and waves his hand once more, the surroundings alter and Grey is now standing in the dining room.

Everyone is seated and Carrick is at his place at the head of the table. Grace is on his left-hand side, and Elliot on his right. Beside Elliot is Mia and he sees himself seated next to Grace. He takes a moment to look around the table. Elliot is acting the fool as usual and Mia is interjecting with her own thoughts. He looks at himself, he is sitting sullenly, not interacting with anyone and he has his phone in his hand going through his emails. He watches Grace and Carrick trying repeatedly to include him in conversation and his siblings giving him filthy looks as he effectively ignores them and only offers one-word remarks.

"Jesus Christ am I really that ill-mannered?" Grey whispers almost to himself, and he looks at Grace and sees the hurt in her eyes that her effort to include him is being thrown back in her face.

"I don't want to see any more… I get it, I cause everyone in my life nothing but pain and anguish, they would all be better off without me in their lives. You've made your point now, so just take me back". Grey says sharply.

The spirit stares in shock at him, "Your family want you there and they want you there fully. Can you not see that? They love you and want you present to share Christmas day with them" he says.

Grey glares at the spirit, "Just take me home, love is for fools" he spits.

The spirit looks at him pityingly, "who brainwashed you into believing that rubbish?" he says gently.

Grey says nothing but thoughts of Elena leap into his mind. He smiles as he thinks of the woman who has been his mentor and confidant since he was a teenager. The woman who helped him get his shit together and made him the man he is today.

He is pulled from his thoughts by the spirit who once more waves his hand and Grey wonders who they are going to see now.

To his surprise he is now standing in Elena's house and his heart leaps. He wonders what she will say about him, as everyone has mentioned him and quite fondly up to this point. She above anyone else is his closest friend, so she is bound to be thinking of him today.

He hears noises coming from the basement and he shivers as he knows what is down there. That is the dungeon, he slowly makes his way downstairs and the door in front of him opens before him into the hidden BDSM dungeon.

He stops as he sees Elena flogging a boy… a child of no more than fifteen. She is circling him and the words she speaks makes him shiver. The words coming out of her mouth are familiar; they are what she said to him many times. He doesn't know how long he stands watching, sickened to the core by what he is seeing. How she is brainwashing this poor child. He sees a camera in the corner recording the encounter and he freezes; did she record him? How many others are there? He watches the boy pleading for her to stop, he screams out the word 'red' several times but Elena just laughs and carries on. His back is raw and bleeding but still she continues.

The spirit sees Grey looking at the camera and leans closer, "Her safe is filled with similar videos to this and photographs of the many, many children she has had in this room. She uses the footage as leverage should anything happen to her".

Grey listens and takes in what has been said and then he turns to the spirit. "Who is that boy?" he asks.

The spirit smiles sadly, "that is James, and he believes he is worthless. He believes he deserves to be treated like this because she told him so. She picked him up off the streets, he was homeless. He is a runaway. His step father beat him and he ran away only to fall into her clutches. She offered him a different way. But in all reality, he just exchanged one hell for another. He is too afraid of Elena to speak out as she gives him a place to live and food to eat. She has him believing he deserves this" the spirit says.

"How old is he?" Grey asks as the uncomfortable parallels with his own life and that of his birth mother just keep coming.

"He's fourteen" the spirit says.

"But he's a minor, that is abuse" Grey cries.

"You were fifteen, when she did this to you," the spirit states.

Grey shakes his head, "I was different. I lived in a loving… I… I mean…" the spirit watches as the truth hits Grey and he sinks to his knees.

He crouches down beside him, "Who has Elena not given one thought to? Who has she not mentioned in all the time you have been here?" he asks simply.

Grey looks up, "me" he says bleakly.

The spirit smiles and nods, "do you still believe she saved you and had your best interests at heart?" he asks.

The surroundings fade and Grey is in his own bedroom once more. The spirit sits beside him on the bed and looks at him with compassion.

"You have one more spirit to come and see you, the ghost of Christmas yet to come. I have to leave you now, but before I go, I will just tell you one thing. Your destiny is yours alone, you have seen your past and you know the truth of how you came to be. You now also know the truth behind what your birth mother endured. You have seen what those around you think at this point in time, but your future is as yet unwritten, and it is down to you how your future pans out. When the spirit comes to see you and shows you what your future _could_ be like take heed and choose wisely," he says and he pats Grey's arm.

"Wait, how will I know? I mean how will I know what my choice is?" Grey says.

The spirit smiles, "Ella is trying to make it as easy as possible for you, because she loves you so much. She wants to make the choice you face obvious, so she wants you to see two possible futures. One if you choose a different path and one you are destined for if you continue on the path you are currently taking. She can't tell you which path to take. There are rules about it, free will and all that. She can only advise you and give you a glimpse of what is to come in the hope that you will choose the better way. This is the only way she can do so. You are lucky, there aren't many people who get this glimpse of their own future and the opportunity to change handed to them. You have no idea what your birth mother has gone through to secure these visitations for you. Your mother always loved you; everything she did was out of love for you, and she continues to do so and she continues to watch over you. She did this because she doesn't want you to end up like her, dying alone and filled with regret".

Grey swallows hard and nods. "I believe I see my birth mother very differently now" he says quietly.

The spirit pats his arm again, "the final spirit will come as the clock strikes 3am" he says and with that he simply fades and vanishes.

Grey sits and waits. As he does so he goes through everything he has learnt this evening. It has given him a lot to consider. As he sits and thinks he feels the room get considerably colder. He looks up to see a strange grey mist swirling in front of him, and he stares at it.

"Who is there?" he demands and slowly a figure steps out of the mist. He is shrouded head to foot in a long black robe and his face is hidden. He holds out his skeletal hand and Grey takes a deep breath and stands, looking at it nervously.

"Are… are you the ghost of Christmas yet to come?" he asks, and the logical part of him cringes at how ridiculous that sounds, but nothing that has happened tonight is logical in any way, shape or form.

The hooded figure nods but doesn't say a word, and once more holds out his hand.

Grey takes a deep breath but he hesitates a moment and then he hears a voice in his head.

"It's ok maggot. Go with him baby boy, go with him and see the choice you have to make".

Grey looks frantically around him.

"Mom, mom please let me see you once more, I need to speak to you. I need to tell you I'm sorry" Grey shouts franticly.

A figure appears next to him and his heart surges as he lays eyes on Ella and he reaches for her but his arms just go straight through her.

"I'm dead Christian, you can't touch me" she states sadly.

The irony of that fact isn't lost on Grey that the first being he willingly reached out to he cannot touch.

"I know, but I just need to ask you a few things… please…?" he begs.

She holds up her hand to the other spectre, "alright" she says.

"You named me after your brother?" Grey asks.

Ella nods, "I did" she says with a sad smile.

"My father didn't want to know?" he asks.

Ella shakes her head, "No, he denied paternity and refused to accept responsibility for you. He had plans for college and beyond and a child wasn't part of that plan" she says.

"What was his name?" Grey asks coldly, now that he realises his father wasn't one of his mother's many clients as he had always believed, he wants to know who he is and he intends to track him down and find out if destroying his mother's life was worthwhile.

"Peter, Peter Longthorpe, he was in my class at high school" Ella states sadly.

"You called me maggot… that is what your brother called you?" Grey states and once again Ella simply nods.

"You loved me" Grey states, but he doesn't ask it as a question, he more states it as a fact even though deep down he isn't totally sure of the answer.

Ella reaches out, and a cold sensation drifts over Grey's hands as the spectral hands hover over his. Then he feels her touch, and he closes his eyes and savours it.

"I did… more than life itself" Ella states.

Grey turns those words over in his mind. His eyes fly open and widen as the truth of them hits him. His head whips up and he stares at his mother.

"You killed yourself?" he asks quietly.

Ella nods, "I did, as it was the only way I could see to get you out of there, out of that situation. I need you to know that I didn't mean for you to be trapped in that apartment for four days with my body. I expected you to be found the same day. As he said he would be back later that day, but he didn't return as he said he would. I knew once he found me dead, he would call the police as he wouldn't want any suspicion to fall on him. I killed myself as it was the only way I had left to get you out of that hell. I knew the police would come and you would be taken into the care of the CPS and you would be given medical help. You would be fed and clothed and looked after by someone. I was no longer in any fit state to do any of that for you. The drugs he fed me saw to that and so it was the final thing I could do for you… It was my last hope. I need you to know that I am so sorry Christian. I need you to know that I never wanted to end up like that, which is why I have done this as that whole time has left scars on you. They are scars which I inflicted through my poor choices and so I want to try and help you erase them. You have a choice to make a better life for yourself, yes you are astonishingly wealthy and successful, but you are not happy. You are a shell of a man who needs love but who is too afraid to accept it. You have seen the past and you now know the full story about where you came from. You have also seen the present, and you have seen who _really_ cares about you and who genuinely and sincerely loves you. In the coming months you will meet someone new, and it will be down to the decisions you make when you meet her that will define the rest of your life, so please choose carefully. I need to go now, but rest assured that I will always be looking down over you".

With that Ella vanishes and the other spectre steps closer and holds out his bony hand once more.

Grey looks at the spirit and holds up his hand, "just give me a moment, I need a moment. I have just learnt that my mother gave her life to save me… I need a moment to process this".

The spirit lowers his hand and silently waits as Grey sits and processes everything he has just been told.

After a few moments of complete silence Grey stands and nods, "Ok… I'm ready now," he states.

He has barely got the words out of his mouth and the mist engulfs him. He waits, and then slowly it clears. He looks around and he realises he is standing in a graveyard. He sees three men in suits laughing beside a grave. He walks closer and sees an ornate grave with his name on it, it appears that he died quite recently. He takes a deep breath and turns towards the group of men who are talking.

He steps closer and listens, "So that's decided then?" one man says.

The others nod, "I agree, the will clearly states that GEH will be taken public in the event of Grey's death. That bastard kept an iron grip on the place till the very end, but if we do it this way a nice chunk of cash will come our way, the perfect compensation for us. It's the least we deserve after having to deal with that asshole for years".

"So, what happens to all his billions?" another says and Grey sees the greed in the man's eyes.

The first snorts and shakes his head, "Charities" he spits with clear derision.

The man's mouth drops open, "You are kidding, 34 billion dollars _all _going to charity?" he states.

The man shrugs, "He had no family to leave it to, he was estranged from his siblings after his adopted parents died and he missed their funeral. He lived up in his ivory tower surrounded by stuff but had no-one to share it with, it's quite sad when you think about it. He instructed us to split it equally between the charities he supported when he lived, along with the charity his adopted parents set up after they adopted him. My best guess is he had no idea what to do with it all. He knew he couldn't take it with him and he had no-one who he cared about enough to leave it to".

The third man who has been silent up to this point speaks, "Well at least we will get our cut of the spoils as his attorneys, after all we can't let it _all_ go to a good cause". This causes the three men to burst into loud raucous laughter and Grey looks at them in disgust.

"Well… we can, as long as it's _our _good cause" another says, and the three men laugh even louder at this. Grey stares at them horrified of what he is hearing.

Grey staggers backwards and the mist slowly engulfs him.

"My mother said this was one possible future. I am guessing this is the road I am currently on. Show me my other option… I beg you don't leave me with that vision of my future" he says desperately.

The spirit pauses and then the mist engulfs them both once more. Grey closes his eyes trying to remove that laughter and those words from his mind. Then he hears more laughter, but this time it is happy laughter. His eyes fly open as he listens, and slowly the mist begins to clear.

Grey looks around him and everything looks familiar as he sees his own home. He realises that he is standing in Escala, but not as he recognises it. For a moment he thinks that the spirit is showing him the decorations that the previous spirit filled his apartment with, but then he hears his name being called and a child's laughter.

He looks around and sees a beautiful young woman with the most gorgeous blue eyes he has ever seen. She is obviously pregnant and she is standing next to a beautifully decorated tree. She is holding a star and looking at it. She calls out his name again and he sees himself appearing with a small boy in his arms. He is smiling and laughing and he is holding the child upside down and the boy is laughing hysterically. Grey watches himself not quite believing what he is seeing, then he watches himself flip the child and gently lower him to the ground. He watches himself bend and press a kiss to the child's head and then ruffle his hair affectionately.

"Daddy!" The child says and he watches himself just grin.

Daddy? He is this child's father? Grey moves closer and he gasps as he takes a good look at the boy. He has his copper hair and his own features; the child is practically a carbon copy of himself. The child looks up and he sees he has beautiful blue eyes rather than his own grey ones. His attention turns towards the woman and he realises the child has her eyes. He quickly establishes this is his son, and from that he deduces that this woman must be his wife. That realisation almost floors him there and then as this is not something he would've ever anticipated.

He watches as he sees himself walk up to the woman and wrap his arms around her and kiss her passionately.

"The final decoration" the woman says and she holds out the star to him.

"Daddy, daddy let me do it" the small boy cries and Grey watches the child jumping up and down.

Grey thinks for a moment, if this has followed the same pattern as all the other visions which he has had, then this is Christmas day… so why are they only just decorating up for Christmas on the day itself?

The answer comes as the woman speaks again.

"We should've done this before we went away, it seems strange putting up the decorations on Christmas day" she says.

Grey watches himself smile. "I know baby, but that's my fault as I wanted to surprise you. You enjoyed the time away though didn't you? I wanted to take you away before it became too dangerous for you to fly". He watches himself stroke the small yet noticeable bump.

The woman smiles and shakes her head, "Of course I did, and it was wonderful seeing the Northern Lights and arranging for Teddy to see Father Christmas in his Lapland home and the sleigh ride. It was truly magical and something I'm sure we will both remember for the rest of our lives".

Grey watches himself and he sees himself looking at the child, "do you think he will remember that trip Ana?" he asks her hopefully.

The woman smiles up at him and touches his cheek, "Christian, you need to stop this, you are a wonderful father just as I knew you would be. I know your childhood was filled with things no child should ever see or go through but spoiling our children isn't the way to compensate for that. Teddy has millions of happy memories because you have made sure his childhood is safe and comfortable. That is because you are a wonderful father, and that is all he needs. Just like me he doesn't need '_things'_ to be happy, he just needs the belief that his mommy and daddy love him and that he is safe and taken care of, and he has that in spades".

Grey can't take his eyes off the woman; from what she is saying she loves him but not for his wealth but for him. He moves closer and listens as she continues to speak.

"I loved the surprise and I loved that you organised it. I love that you made it all happen. But do you know what I love more?" she pauses and Grey watches himself shake his head.

"You… just you! I love you more than stuff. More than expensive holidays, cars, clothes and jewellery. I love _you_, and what is in here" she pauses again and places her hand directly on his heart. Grey's eyes widen as he watches this seemingly simple gesture. Not only because she touched him, but the fact he allowed her to do it. He looks at himself and his lack of panic and fear. He appeared to actually be enjoying feeling her touch him.

He stares at the couple in front of him. He doesn't recognise himself in this person he is seeing, and then his attention is drawn back to the woman as she speaks again.

She smiles up at him and then she shrugs, "But I know you, and I also know that you are totally over the top. You will not listen, and you will continue to spoil us. So, I will just have to be careful what I say in future," she says and Grey watches himself throw back his head and laugh.

"No, you won't baby" he argues.

The woman rolls her eyes, "I mention in passing that I would love to see the Northern Lights and you arrange a holiday for us in Scandinavia… so yes I will" she retorts.

Grey watches himself laugh freely. "You know I would give you the world if I could Ana. However, I wanted to take Teddy to see Santa in his Lapland home too, so it wasn't _all_ about you," he says, and the woman starts laughing at that. Then Grey watches himself grow serious; he tips her chin up with his finger so his eyes are fixed on hers. The love between them is almost a living thing, it is so palpable and as Grey watches he gasps.

"I do it because I love you," he hears himself say, and Grey cannot believe he is saying this.

Before he can question the spirit, he sees Taylor and his attention moves towards him.

"Your family have arrived sir" he says.

Grey watches himself tell Taylor to show them in. Moments later he sees Grace, Carrick, Mia and Elliot along with another woman and a baby. He looks closely at the woman she is wearing a wedding ring and he sees a ring on his brothers' hand. His brother is married?! He watches as he takes the baby from his brothers' arms and holds it with practiced ease and he watches himself talking to the baby and calling himself Uncle Christian. He hears his family calling the woman he is with Ana… that must be her name, the woman who is with Elliot appears to be called Kate. He slowly moves closer as he sees himself hand the baby back and greet his mother, she holds him in a warm hug. She can touch him… what on earth has happened for this almost miraculous scene in front of him? He continues to watch; he doesn't want to leave this happy family scene but then he feels the spirit touch his arm. He keeps his eyes on the woman as the mist starts to rise around him and the scene fades away.

He turns and the spirit gestures for him to move away.

"Is that woman my wife?" he asks the spirit and the spirit nods.

"She changed my life?" he asks and the spirit nods again.

"This is the person that I am destined to meet shortly?" he asks and once again the spirit nods.

Grey turns and looks back at the happy scene which is disappearing into the mist. He keeps his eyes fixed on the small beautiful brunette woman with pale skin and big blue eyes. She is definitely his type and a cold feeling engulfs him, is she his sub? No that can't be right he saw the wedding rings on both his and her hands so that alone tells him that she is his wife and the spirit confirmed that fact for him… but was she his sub first? He realises there and then that when he meets this woman, he will make her his. She is beautiful and she looks at him as if she loves him… love… can he do that? Can he really love another person? It appears that in this reality he is also a father, the very thought of that fills him with fear. How on earth can he be a father with his issues?

Moments later he realises he is back in his bedroom and he is now totally alone. He looks around and sees everything is as it should be. He moves towards the bedroom door and tries the handle; it opens and he moves out into the deserted dark great room. It is as he left it when he came to bed, cold and not a single trace of Christmas visible. He looks at his piano and remembers the scene of the spirit playing Christmas tunes. He looks around and sees his apartment almost for the first time, it is cold and sterile. There is no atmosphere it is almost like an art gallery. He returns to his bedroom and he sits down on his bed, turning his head to look at the clock. It is nearly half past three. He closes his eyes as his mind is nearly bursting with everything he has learnt tonight.

**oooOOOooo**

A few hours later he opens his eyes to sunlight streaming in through the window. He glances at the clock and sees it is nearly 10am. He has never slept in this late in his life. He quickly showers, dresses and goes out to the kitchen where Gail is busy.

"Good morning Gail… Merry Christmas" he says hesitantly, and he watches as she almost drops the saucepan she is holding in shock.

"Oh, good morning sir and Merry Christmas to you too" she replies.

He waits a moment then continues to speak, "I apologise for keeping Taylor so late at the office last night, but I needed to finish something off" he says.

Gail smiles at him, "No need to apologise sir, we both understand" she says, "Now what can I get you for breakfast?"

"Erm… I think I'd like to just head straight to my parents' house if that's ok, I'm due there for lunch and I have a few things I'd like to talk to them about before that. I'm sure my mother won't mind if I grab something to eat there" he says and he watches as shock and surprise once again fills her face before she quickly schools it into something more neutral.

"Certainly sir, I'll go and find Jason for you right now" and with that he watches her vanish.

A short while later and Grey is travelling in the back of his Audi to his parent's house. He feels nervous about this. He has never willingly spent longer than absolutely necessary there but today he is doing just that. He realises he needs to know if they know anything about his birth mother… that is a pretty good reason to go early, and he assumes that they wouldn't think anything amiss with that… other than he has never shown the remotest interest in anything to do with his birth mother, or his life before he was adopted by them. How does he explain this sudden curiosity? Eventually he decides that honesty is the best policy… not total honesty of course, his mother would have him sectioned if he told her what he had witnessed last night. But a version of the truth would seem acceptable.

As he tries to work out how he is going to explain this, he glances out of the window then inwardly cringes as he recognises his surroundings and the car pulls up. He didn't realise he was here already. He watches from the relative safety of the car and his attention is taken by movement at the front of the house. He sees the front door fly open, and he sees as Grace stands there looking astounded. She is staring open mouthed at the car; it is almost as if she can't believe that he is really here this early and then he realises that she is overjoyed that she isn't really seeing things… that he is _really _here.

He takes a deep breath and then steeling himself he climbs out of the car, as Taylor retrieves the gifts which he got Andrea to buy for him from the boot.

"Christian… you are early" Grace says, and then she reaches for him but checks herself and withdraws her hand again. He sees the longing in her eyes, as he leans down and presses a kiss to her cheek.

"I know… I apologise, but I needed to ask you something" he says stiffly.

Grace looks up at him, she searches his gaze and frowns, then instinctively she reaches for him again. He stiffens, and she notices his reaction and so she hesitantly touches his hand. This makes him quickly relax again. Memories of that hug which he shared with her in that vision fill his mind, it makes him want to reach for her, but fear holds him in check and so he simply grips her hand instead. To see the joy this simple action gives her makes him feel like dirt, has he really shut her out to that extent that simply squeezing her hand gives her such unadulterated joy?

"Never apologise for wanting to see us" Grace says and Grey feels his heart lurch slightly at the sincerity and genuine love in her tone.

Once they are inside, he turns to Taylor. "I'll text you when I'm ready to leave" he says and then he remembers the Skype call he saw last night in his vision.

"Wait!" he calls and Taylor immediately comes to a halt and turns looking questioningly at Grey.

"You will be speaking with your daughter today at some point?" he asks.

Taylor nods, "yes sir, I have arranged to Skype with her around lunch time".

Grey thinks quickly, but for the life him cannot see a way around possibly interrupting the call. He sees Taylor watching him closely and he realises he has to say something.

"Enjoy your day Taylor" he says eventually.

Grey inwardly cringes again as he sees the look of surprise on his face. It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic that he was genuinely shocked to hear something nice coming from his bosses' mouth, and Grey thinks that he really must be a prize asshole for people to react in such a way towards him.

"Thank you, sir… you too" he replies and leaves without another word.

Grey turns his attention towards his mother and also his father who has now appeared in the hallway. He thrusts out his hand towards him and he watches Carrick closely as he grasps his hand eagerly and shakes it.

"Merry Christmas son" he says warmly and Grey nods in response.

"Merry Christmas dad" he responds and he watches as the man's eyes light up. Why has he never noticed this before?

"Erm… my reason for coming so early was… I needed to talk to you both about something, and I wanted to do it privately before everyone arrives and the Christmas festivities get underway" he says.

Grey watches his parent's reaction and they both nod and are giving him their undivided attention. He feels his throat closing up and his mouth go dry as he tries to figure out what he wants to say.

"Erm…" he pauses and swallows hard and then licks his lips, "I had a dream last night" he begins and he watches as his parents' eyes widen then concern fills his mother's eyes.

"One of your nightmares… do you still get those?" she asks as she reaches for him once more.

He shakes his head, "No, no nothing like that, but I had a dream about my birth mother and it made me think… do you have any information at all on her… where she came from? I'm just curious" he says.

He watches as Carrick clears his throat, "I have a file for you, it contains everything I could find on Ella… and where she came from. I put it together for you for when we adopted you. I had one done for Elliot and for Mia, but they took their files years ago. I have always held on to it just in case you ever asked".

"Thank you… I'd like to see it if you don't mind?" Grey asks hesitantly and Carrick nods and leads him away to his study.

As he walks through the door Grey looks around. This place hasn't altered at all over the years apart from the changes in décor. Once inside the study, Grey is hit by a myriad of memories from his teenage years when he started to go off the rails and he was hauled into this room for verbal dressings down, due to his unacceptable behaviour when he was brawling and out of control. He also remembers the times when he would sneak in here to drink his father's liquor and he looks at the decanters sitting in the same place they have always been. As he looks around, he remembers the time when he had a stand-up row with his father in here over him quitting Harvard. How he had stood toe to toe with him on this very carpet, and vowed to prove him wrong in his assumption that he would crash and burn in the real world without a college degree.

His attention is taken by his father who is fiddling with the combination on the lock of the safe. He watches and sees him delve inside and pull out a manila folder. Carrick hesitates a moment as he looks at it, and as Grey sees it in his hand it forcibly reminds him of the cabinet of files which he holds on all his subs, but he quickly pushes that thought from his mind. Carrick closes the door of the safe before he faces his son.

Grey watches as he clears his throat and holds out the folder to him.

"Everything you need to know about where you came from is in this folder. I did my best to find out what I could. There are copies of your birth certificate and also Ella's along with copies of the adoption papers and the adoption certificate. There is also documentation about where you lived, also where she lived and went to school, before… before she ended up… where she did".

Grey holds out his hand, "thank you" he says quietly as he holds in his hand evidence of his early life. He looks up at his father.

"Is there any information on who my birth father was?" Grey asks as he thinks about the name from the vision. He has already decided that he is going to track down Peter Longthorpe and find out what he is doing now.

Carrick shakes his head, "No, but there was a name which cropped up a couple of times during the adoption process, and that was a 'P Longthorpe'. Apparently, from what we were told… there was a note which the police found in the apartment which Ella had written, and so it was passed on to the authorities, when they were searching for any biological family to take you when we petitioned to adopt you. This family were contacted. We have no idea what was in the note for them to take these steps and we could only assume it was something like a will and that it named this individual as your father. Nothing came of their investigations so we just assumed it was a dead end and so I never pursued it further".

Grey listens and realises that the authorities must have approached the Longthorpe family and once again he had been denied as having anything to do with them. This makes him all the more determined to find out about this man and what became of him.

He looks once more at Carrick who is watching Grey closely and almost warily as if he is unsure of what to say next.

Grey swallows hard, "thanks for this dad… I think I'd like to read it later though… privately, if you don't mind" he says.

Carrick nods, "Of course no problem at all" he says.

Grey places the file on the desk and looks up at his father, "I'll leave it here and collect it later" he says and Carrick nods in agreement.

As Grey turns to leave he is stopped by his father's voice calling out to him.

"Christian" he calls nervously and Grey turns to face the older man.

"Yes" he replies and waits.

Grey watches Carrick shuffle nervously and swallow hard before he takes a step closer, but still tellingly keeping at arm's length.

"Christian, it is long overdue and I should've said something long before now but I… I just wanted you to know… how proud I am of you. I should've told you this long before now but you proved me wrong, you more than proved me wrong. What you have achieved is unreal and I should've told you long before now… that's all I wanted to say".

Carrick waits as the silence spreads out between the two and Grey doesn't know how to bring this awkwardness to an end and he has no idea what to say to alleviate it.

In the end he simply nods, "That's ok dad" he says eventually and he watches as the joy lights up his father's eyes and a bright smile fills his face.

The two men walk out of the study shoulder to shoulder and although not another word is spoken Grey feels the shift between them.

**oooOOOooo**

After an enjoyable and light-hearted Christmas lunch, where everyone present was astonished at how Grey had interacted almost personably with his family. Grey looked at his watch as he debated whether or not to call Taylor, as he was now more than ready to leave. He had to admit being present at this Christmas day celebration had been different, and yet in an odd way… nice. However, now he was ready to go home. His limited sociability skills having being stretched to their very limits.

He hesitated before sending the text. Hoping that Taylor had finished his Christmas Day Skype chat with his daughter.

The text was simple and to the point, _**I am ready to leave**_.

As Grey stands, and turns towards his father, "I'll just go and get that file" he says as he excuses himself from the room.

As he leaves the room, he hears his brother make a flippant comment. "Who was that, and what did he do with Christian?" Elliot asks and he hears Mia laugh in response.

Then he hears his mother's sharp reply which stops Mia's laughter dead.

"Elliot stop it" she says.

At the sound of his mother rebuking Elliot sharply, his heart lurches once more knowing that once again she was defending him. He believed she was defending the indefensible, considering how he has behaved towards his family all these years. Only now, he realises that the love and affection he craved as a toddler was being offered to him freely, and it had been there ever since he had been adopted. He had just failed to see it.

Grey walked into his father's study once again and retrieved the manila folder from the desk. He looked at it closely as he held it in his hands. His entire past was in this folder, in stark black and white. He had seen evidence of the past with his own eyes last night and he was curious to see how that translated to what he would find in this folder. Taking a deep breath, he turned on his heel and marched back out of the study, closing the door behind him.

As he returned to the living room, where his family was all sitting chatting amiably, he felt his phone ping. He pulled it out and glanced at it. As expected, it was a text from Taylor informing him that he had arrived and was waiting outside.

"I have to go" Grey says simply as he looks around the room.

Elliot looks up and grins at his younger brother. "Well you lasted longer than usual, I nearly died of shock when I arrived and you were already here" he says.

"Elliot!" Grace says sharply, and then she turns her attention to Grey and her expressions softens considerably. "I understand, I'm glad you could come and spend some time with us today" she adds.

Once again Grey inwardly winces and feels like dirt as he hears his mothers' words. This woman defends him and unconditionally loves him and yet he completely believes that he has done nothing but bring her heartache and pain.

Grey hesitates and then reaches out and touches his mothers' arm as he leans down and gently kisses her cheek.

"Thank you" he whispers in her ear, and then before she can respond, he turns, nods in acknowledgement to his father and mutters a curt goodbye to his siblings.

As he climbs into the car he looks up at Taylor. "How was your day Taylor?" he asks.

"Very pleasant, thank you for asking sir" Taylor replies politely.

Grey smiles as he recalls the vision from the previous night. "Did you get to speak to your daughter?" he asks curiously.

Taylor glances at him through the rear-view mirror. "Yes, I did sir. Sophie also wished you a Merry Christmas" he says, and Grey immediately detects the hesitant, almost apologetic tone with which he said that.

He looks up at Taylor and offers him a small smile, "the next time you speak to her… tell her… tell her I appreciate her kind thoughts" he says.

Grey watches as Taylor's eyes widen in shock, "Erm…Y…yes sir I will" he stammers.

Once they arrive back at Escala, Grey disappears to his study and closes the door. He sits at his desk and after taking a deep breath he opens the manila folder.

The first thing he sees on the top of the pile of papers is a photograph. His heart lurches as he looks at it. He picks it up and holds it tightly. She looks reasonably healthy in this photograph and he wonders when it was taken, and how Carrick managed to acquire it. Pushing those questions to one side he places the photograph down and continues to look through the paperwork. He reads his birth certificate and swallows at the 'Father Unknown' comment and he feels his anger starting to rise. He wasn't unknown, the bastard just didn't want to know.

Grey, picks up the next piece of paper and it details where she lived and where she went to school. He remembers what he was told the previous night, that his birth father was in Ella's class at school and he picks up his phone.

"Welch" he says as the call is answered.

"Mr Grey, what can I do for you sir?" the man replies.

"I need you to get me all the information you can on a Peter Longthorpe, I don't have a date of birth but as far as I know he attended the Hillman Valley High School in Detroit in the mid 1980's. I am aware this isn't much to go on but… I am also reasonably certain he was in the same class as an Ella…" he hesitates and picks up her birth certificate, reading her full name he realises that this was once his own name. "Ella Greaves" he says and the words almost get stuck in his throat as he says them. He coughs to clear his throat and waits.

"Ok, so let me just check this, Peter Longthorpe, Hillman Valley High School Detroit, sometime in the 1980's around the same time as an Ella Greaves?" Welch says.

"That is correct" Grey confirms.

"I'll get on it sir" he says.

"Thank you… and Welch?" Grey says.

"Yes sir?" Welch replies.

"Enjoy the rest of Christmas day" Grey says, slightly awkwardly.

There is a significant silence before Welch replies and when he does, he sounds slightly stunned, "Erm… Thank you sir, I will… and the same to you of course sir" he says.

Grey hangs up and carefully replaces all the papers into the folder and then takes them over to his safe and after opening it up, he looks at the folder once more before placing it inside and closing the door.

**oooOOOooo**

_Two months later…_

In the past two months Grey has been a busy man. After securing the footage of himself as a teenage boy from Elena's safe and extracting himself from her businesses, he anonymously tipped off the Seattle police into her illegal behaviour. She is now sitting awaiting trial on several counts of child abuse and paedophilia. Since her arrest, many young men have come forward to tell their stories of how she abused them as young vulnerable teens. The latest word is that she realises that with the growing evidence against her, it is in her best interests just to plead guilty. The young boy – James, who Grey saw in his Christmas vision, is now safely in the hands of the CPS and an 'anonymous benefactor' is paying his medical bills including some intensive therapy sessions and his schooling. He is now in a happy foster home and for the first time in his life doing well.

At this precise moment though Grey is dealing with another personal matter, which has occupied his time since he learnt the truth about his past at Christmas. He is sitting outside an expensive looking house in Detroit. As he takes in the house in front of him, he takes a moment to go over in his mind what he is about to do. This house used to belong to his paternal grandparents. Peter Longthorpe senior and Patricia Longthorpe. This is where his biological father was raised along with his three siblings.

The house has a sold sign outside and Grey smiles. That is there because of him, and he feels no guilt to see it. The father is still trying to bail out the son and the monumental mistakes he has made. Mistakes which made the company he built ripe for a takeover. He had destroyed his father's company in the space of ten years since he was handed control when his father retired. His mistakes ruined the company and made it an easy target for him to exact his revenge on his biological mother's behalf. He has systematically ruined the Longthorpe family, but it wasn't hard to do. He had discovered that his biological father graduated High School with fairly uninspiring results and only attended one of the top universities in the country due to his father's connections, money and influence. Grey had gone into every detail of the man's life and discovered his college results were as equally mediocre as his school. The man relied on his name and his father's wealth as his intelligence and business sense was severely lacking. It seemed fitting to Grey that he, the person who Longthorpe denied should be the one to take all that away from him. He had swooped in and bought out the company when it was on the verge of collapse. Longthorpe junior believed him to be his saviour but the ink was barely dry on the paperwork when Grey liquidated the company and left him with nothing. The icing on the cake was when Longthorpe senior put his house up for sale. Grey even bought that, as his reasoning was that he and his biological mother had been denied a home for a time because of this family's actions. Now he was here to claim this house as his own and reveal why he had been so vindictive.

Grey climbs out of the car and strides purposefully up the path. As he reaches the front door, he raps on it loudly. The door opens and he comes face to face with an older man, a man with his grey eyes and his copper hair, although the old mans is now more grey than copper. Grey looks at the man who stares at him, not quite believing what he is seeing.

"You? You are Christian Grey" the man splutters and Grey smiles.

"I am indeed" Grey replies, not offering any further information.

"Why? Why did you take my company and ruin me… what the hell have I ever done to you?" the man splutters.

"On Christmas day… about 28 years ago, you telephoned a man called Daniel Greaves. You were outraged that his daughter had named your son as the father to her unborn baby. You slandered her, convincing her father she was a slut which resulted in him forcing her to leave the family home. She lost her home, because of what you and your son did and so now you are losing yours… let's just say I am posthumously restoring the balance of justice on her behalf". Grey says with a smirk.

Grey watches as confusion fills the man's face as he is clearly wracking his brains to remember that time, and Grey sees the moment he remembers when Longthorpe stares at him incredulously.

"What on earth does that have to do with now? You have just said it was about 28 years ago, and more importantly what does it have to do with you?" Longthorpe splutters.

Grey takes a step forward and leans toward the man who he towers over in height, he is fully aware that he is intimidating him and that is his intention.

"It has everything to do with now and also everything to do with me. You see, recently I decided to research my biological roots. I am adopted, that fact is public knowledge. However, until recently I was never particularly interested in finding out about where I came from. But then I decided to take the time and find out. I discovered that my biological mother was from here in Detroit and she was called Ella… Ella Greaves".

Grey watches as the man blanches and then his eyes move over him. His eyes widen as he really looks closely at him, they fix on the copper hair and then he looks at Grey closely as he takes in his features.

"You… you're Ella's boy?" he gasps.

Grey nods, "I am and I'm also aware that, as well as the fact your piece of shit son denied being the sperm donor, you all refused to acknowledge my existence when my mother died". Grey pauses and watches the old man shift uncomfortably, but he is in his stride now and not about to let up for a moment.

"Your family were contacted by the authorities as you were named as being biologically related to me. Yet I was adopted by the Grey family, can you explain why that is? Please don't misunderstand me, they were the best parents anyone could possibly want. I can't help but wonder why when my birth mother left information as to who my father was, I wasn't taken in by the Longthorpe family. Unless of course, the Longthorpe family were still denying my existence and certain members of the Longthorpe family were shirking their parental responsibilities". Grey pauses and waits for the old man to respond.

"Peter always swore that he wasn't responsible for you… however, just looking at you I see a family resemblance" the old man says sadly.

Grey smiles, "He knew he was my biological father, he admitted the fact to Christian Greaves, Ella's brother when he beat it out of him" he whispers.

The man's eyes widen, "How on earth did you find that out?!" he gasps, "Christian Greaves has been dead for years" he adds.

Christian smiles again, "I have my sources" he says simply. Then as he fixes his cold CEO mask into place he glares at the old man.

"I am now simply righting a wrong. Your son's denial cost Ella everything. In fact, it eventually cost her, her life and destroyed the entire Greaves family. That denial and your subsequent call to her father caused a chain of events which I am about to explain to you. First of all, it caused a family rift that was never healed. Upon hearing his daughter was pregnant Ella's father gave her one choice, abortion. When she refused to comply, he asked her to leave the family home. Ella's mother and brother were not on board with that decision and continued to support her as best they could, and with their help she was doing well, until they were killed… as they drove to visit her. Daniel Greaves never forgave Ella for their deaths. He blamed her because as he saw it, they wouldn't have been killed, had they not been at that particular place at that particular time. In his grief he drank himself to death, but not before cutting off the financial support his wife had put in place for Ella and for me. As a result, Ella was left destitute. She lost her home and for a time we were in a homeless shelter, that was until she was picked up and groomed by a predator. She believed him when he told her he would take care of her, she believed him because she wanted me to have a home. However, in reality he was just using her. He gained her trust, then he got her hooked on drugs to make her dependent on him and eventually he pimped her out to make money for him, and he used me as leverage to keep her compliant – he physically abused me. I still have the physical scars on my body from what he did to me and I have memories of that time, which come to me in the shape of nightmares, as I relive everything that monster did. None of that would've happened, had your son not initially taken responsibility for his actions. Therefore, indirectly I hold him and you completely responsible for what happened, not only to my biological mother but also my grandmother and uncle".

The old man stares at Grey in shock. His mouth is hanging open as he takes in everything he has been told.

"What happened to Ella… in the end? I am assuming you were removed from her as you were adopted. We weren't informed of the circumstances when the authorities approached us at the time" the man says.

Grey just stares at the man impassively. "She died" he says bluntly. "She overdosed on drugs, and I was trapped in our apartment with her dead body for four days. I was four years old at the time, and my mother lay dead on the floor of our apartment, until the pimp showed up and found her. He called the police and then he abused me one final time before he left and locked the door behind him".

The old man looks stunned by this, "I… I had no idea" he stammers.

"No, you wouldn't, because you and your son continually denied any responsibility. However, now I have to thank you. You see because you denied me and refused to claim me, I was adopted by two wonderful people who offered me love and a stable home. This inevitably led me to become the man I am today," Grey says simply, and then he smiles again. "So, because I am the man I am today, a man driven and successful and very wealthy, I am now in a position to right the wrong you and your son caused all those years ago".

"But…" the man says feebly.

Grey holds up his hand, "but obviously I will give credit where it is due, you made it easy for me. Or should I say your son made it easy for me with his total incompetence when he ran your business into the ground. When I approached him with the takeover deal, he grabbed it willingly thinking I was some kind of saviour. That I would bail him out like you have done all his life, he learnt the hard way that the decisions you make in life have consequences and more importantly you need to own them and accept them".

"Why did you buy my home?" the man asks.

Grey looks at him incredulously, "because you were equally responsible as he was. You unconditionally believed your son and denied the truth, despite the fact I suspect you knew deep down he was responsible for fathering me, so I am simply holding you responsible for your wilful denial and making you accountable for your actions".

"What are you going to do with the place? You are based in Seattle?" the man asks.

"Oh, that's the best bit! The money I made from liquidating your company and selling it off, along with a significant amount from my own personal account is being set up to provide a shelter to help young women who find themselves in need… like my mother did, and this house is going to be converted into that shelter. Very fitting I think, don't you agree?" Grey says with a degree of smug satisfaction.

"You can't do this!" the man exclaims but Grey just laughs.

"I can, and I already have. I am just here today to claim my property, you were supposed to have vacated this house today, so I do wonder why you are still here. Do I need to get my lawyers involved and law enforcement to physically remove you from the premises?" Grey asks simply.

The man shakes his head, "We have nowhere to go, we are waiting for my son to arrive. He is supposed to be taking us to his home, until we can find something, but he hasn't arrived yet".

"That is not my problem" Grey retorts.

Just as he says this, he turns to see a car pull up into the driveway. "Aah, it appears your ride has arrived" he states as he nods towards the car.

A tall thin man with copper hair and grey eyes climbs out of the car and stares at Grey questioningly.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asks rudely.

"I am the owner of this house, and I am wondering why I am unable to access my property as it has not yet been vacated" Grey says coldly.

The man flushes slightly, "I apologise, that's my fault as I got held up in traffic".

Grey waves his hand dismissively, "not my concern" he states.

Peter Longthorpe senior looks from Grey to his son, "Andrew, this is Christian Grey, the businessman from Seattle" he says.

This obviously means something to the man and he glares at Grey, "I see. So, you are the piece of shit who destroyed my father's life's work?!" he spits.

Grey's eyebrows rise significantly, "Not quite, your piece of shit brother was responsible for destroying your father's life's work, and then he expected me to bail him out and make everything alright, but I wasn't prepared to do that".

"He believed you were going to help him" Andrew splutters.

Grey snorts, "my mother also believed Peter Longthorpe was going to help her, but she was left disappointed. It was about time he realised what disappointment feels like".

Andrew Longthorpe stills and after shooting a questioning look at his father he stares at Grey, and Grey sees the moment the truth dawns on him.

"You… you're Ella's boy?" he gasps.

Grey snorts again, "got it in one Uncle Andrew" he says sarcastically, then he turns his attention to Peter Longthorpe senior, "so if you don't mind, I'm a very busy man if you would kindly vacate my property before I have to have you forcibly evicted".

Grey watches as Longthorpe gathers up a few suitcases and puts them into the car. As he does so he can't help but overhear Andrew Longthorpe's bitter rant. It appears his family loyalty isn't as absolute as it was a moment or so ago.

"When are you going to learn dad? Look at what your golden boy has reduced you to. All his life, all he has done is fuck up everything he touches and you bail him out. He destroyed an innocent girls' life, promising her the earth and then abandoning her after he had got what he wanted, and couldn't deal with the consequences". This makes Grey's eyebrows rise, so the family _did_ know and believe that Peter Longthorpe junior was responsible for fathering him. He continues to listen in silence.

"He took your company that you had built and ran it into the ground. You have sold your fucking home to bail him out so he didn't lose his. At this moment Mom is sitting in my home crying her eyes out and being comforted by my wife because of what has happened. You put your belongings into storage and while you are here leaving the home you and mom have lived in since you were married, where is shit for brains? On fucking vacation! He may be my brother but I hate him. He destroys everything he touches, all his life he has been a total disaster and yet he refuses to take any responsibility for it. I blame you for that dad, because you were the one who made him the entitled selfish asshole that he is. Nobody else in the family got the royal treatment he did. Yes, he was your first-born son but you seemed to forget the fact that you also had three other sons. Richard, Tom and I had stood and watched while Pete got everything and monumentally screwed it up. He got all your love and attention and yet he threw it back in your face while we got fuck all, but who was here for you when it mattered most? Who was here when mom was sick? Thomas practically moved in to help you out and his own marriage suffered as a result, and Rich and I came as often as we could to help out as well. Yet golden balls never even picked up the phone to call and see how mom was, let alone come and help out. Who was there for you when you wrote off your car? Richard dropped everything to go to you. Yet who was closer that day…? Oh yes that's right Peter, but he didn't give a shit. When you called him for help, the first thing he did was phone Rich to go to you. Who has rallied round who helped you clear this house? That would be me and Tom, who helped you organise the storage facility, that would be Richard. Who is here right now taking you into their own home because you have nowhere else to fucking go? Me! Who hasn't given a shit about anything? Who hasn't lifted a finger to help clean up any mess he has created all his life? Who is a waste of fucking space? Peter William Longthorpe junior that is who!"

Andrew Longthorpe throws in the last bag and then slams the boot shut. As he rounds the car, he pauses and looks at Grey, he hesitates a moment aware that Grey has witnessed that outburst and heard every word and he sighs deeply before he speaks. "I can fully understand why you have done what you did, but as always it's everyone else who deals with the consequences of Pete's actions" he says bitterly.

Grey shrugs dismissively, "in which case you shouldn't allow that to happen…" he turns towards Peter Longthorpe who at this moment looks like a broken man and is realising that everything his son has just said is correct. "Tell me, why did you sell your home? Why did you blindly hand over your life's work to someone who was clearly incompetent in business? Why allow him to believe that there are no consequences to his actions?"

Andrew snorts and shakes his head, "that is the million-dollar question and one which my brothers and I, have asked all our lives! Rich, Tom and I have always had to fight and work for everything and we are better people for it, we all run modest yet successful businesses and have comfortable homes. I wouldn't trust Pete to run a fucking bath let alone a company yet our father seems to have a blind spot where he is concerned and views his eldest son through rose tinted glasses, but what he fails to realise is that roses have nasty hooky thorns which, if you are not careful will rip you apart!" he pauses and shakes his head sadly before looking Grey directly in the eye.

"Do yourself a favour, now you have avenged what my brother and father did to your biological mother and to you, don't give either of them another thought as neither of them are worth your time or energy and your life is far better without either of them in it".

Grey nods and holds out his hand to his uncle, which Andrew Longthorpe accepts.

"In another time and place, I believe we could've been friends" Grey says quietly and Andrew just laughs bitterly.

**oooOOOooo**

_Three months later…_

Christian Grey is sitting in his office and he feels restless and almost numb. Ever since that Christmas visitation and his actions at avenging his birth mother and securing Elena's arrest, everything else in his life feels like an anti-climax. Nothing excites him anymore. The thrill of the business now feels old and stale and he is almost sleep walking through his days, simply going through the motions. He is also still wondering when he will finally meet that beautiful blue-eyed woman from his vision. The woman who it is his destiny to spend the rest of his life with. That is what is getting to him most. It is now May and five months since Christmas. He was told he would be meeting this woman and yet so far there has been no sign of that happening.

He looks at his schedule once more and curses loudly, he has that fucking interview today with the university student who runs the college newspaper. What on earth possessed him to agree to it? The fact Katherine Kavanagh is the daughter of media mogul Eamon Kavanagh, that's why! It is always handy to have allies in the media. By doing this he can remind Kavanagh that he did his daughter a big favour. He never gives interviews so this was a massive coup not only for the university but also for Katherine Kavanagh personally. A big enough favour that he would hold in check to cash in at a point of his choice.

As he thinks this, his intercom on his desk buzzes.

"Yes" he snaps irritably.

"Mr Grey, your 2pm appointment is here, a Miss Anastasia Steele from Washington State University for the interview" Andrea says politely.

Grey is immediately angry at this revelation as he quickly thinks about what he has just been told. Anastasia Steele? Katherine Kavanagh practically stalked him for months begging for an interview and then couldn't be bothered to come in person… oh this has pissed him off completely and he is about to tell Andrea to tell the girl he is cancelling the interview. But something stops him. He isn't sure what it is. Under normal circumstances he would just decline to see her but something… something deep in his gut is telling him to go through with it.

He shakes his head; he thinks that he must be going soft to allow this. "Show her in" he snaps.

He turns to look out of the window, out over the city of Seattle which spreads out as far as the eye can see. A moment later the door opens and he hears a crash. He turns to see a blur as the woman who has just entered his office falls to the ground. He rolls his eyes, not the best first impression for her to make. He is irritated but he stands and walks over to her, to see if she is alright. She is scrabbling on the floor gathering together her belongings and as he gets closer to her, he takes in her badly cut long brunette hair, her cheap clothing and worn shoes. This girl clearly doesn't have many resources by the look of her. He holds out a hand and touches her arm. She jumps violently and looks up at him. As their eyes meet, he sucks in a sharp breath as he recognises her.

It's her… the girl from the vision… wait… Anastasia… Ana, it is her. This is it; this is the moment that his life will change forever. He swallows hard as the enormity of this moment hits him. He recovers quickly and puts his impassive CEO mask in place so she can't see how much he is affected by her. He holds out his hand to help her to her feet. She places her small hand in his and as he touches her hand, he feels something almost like a jolt of electricity go through him. He watches as she sucks in a sharp breath, he realises immediately that she felt it too.

"Are you alright?" he asks her politely and she blushes furiously.

"Yes… I'm sorry about that" she stammers as she gathers herself.

Grey smiles at her, "take your time" he says kindly.

He watches her as she takes a deep breath and then he shepherds her further into the room. He watches as she looks around and her eyes fix on the paintings hanging on his wall.

"They are by a local artist, Trouton" he says as he watches her gaze at them.

"They're lovely, raising the ordinary to extraordinary" she says almost to herself.

Grey's eyes widen at that, he had thought exactly the same thing when he had bought them. He watches as she realises that she is being observed.

"Sorry" she mumbles and flushes again.

Grey gestures to the seating area in the corner of his office, he looks her straight in the eye as he speaks to her.

"Not at all. Now, Miss Steele… Shall we begin?"

**THE END**


End file.
